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Relative change. In any quantitative science, the terms relative change and relative difference are used to compare two quantities while taking into account the "sizes" of the things being compared, i.e. dividing by a standard or reference or starting value. [1] The comparison is expressed as a ratio and is a unitless number.
The coefficient of variation (CV) is defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean , [1] It shows the extent of variability in relation to the mean of the population. The coefficient of variation should be computed only for data measured on scales that have a meaningful zero (ratio scale) and hence allow relative comparison of two ...
Relative velocities between two particles in classical mechanics. The figure shows two objects A and B moving at constant velocity. The equations of motion are: = +, = +, where the subscript i refers to the initial displacement (at time t equal to zero).
Small-angle approximation. Approximately equal behavior of some (trigonometric) functions for x → 0. The small-angle approximations can be used to approximate the values of the main trigonometric functions, provided that the angle in question is small and is measured in radians: These approximations have a wide range of uses in branches of ...
The coefficient of restitution (COR, also denoted by e), is the ratio of the relative velocity of separation after collision to the relative velocity of approach before collision. It can also be defined as the square root of the ratio of the final kinetic energy to the initial kinetic energy. It normally ranges from 0 to 1 where 1 would be a ...
Physics is not math. Despite the close relationship between math and physics, they are not synonyms. In mathematics objects can be defined exactly and logically related, but the object need have no relationship to experimental measurements. In physics, definitions are abstractions or idealizations, approximations adequate when compared to the ...
In mechanics, strain is defined as relative deformation, compared to a reference position configuration. Different equivalent choices may be made for the expression of a strain field depending on whether it is defined with respect to the initial or the final configuration of the body and on whether the metric tensor or its dual is considered.
Snell's law. Refraction of light at the interface between two media of different refractive indices, with n 2 > n 1. Since the velocity is lower in the second medium (v 2 < v 1), the angle of refraction θ 2 is less than the angle of incidence θ 1; that is, the ray in the higher-index medium is closer to the normal.